To See and Be Seen: Sexual Assault Survivors' Experiences Seeing Their Perpetrators in Court During Criminal Prosecution.

Jurisdictions throughout the USA have begun addressing backlogs of previously untested sexual assault kits. Based on new forensic DNA testing, decades-old cold cases are now being re-opened, and survivors are being asked to assist in the prosecution of both stranger- and nonstranger-perpetrated sexual assaults. We qualitatively interviewed N = 32 sexual assault survivors who participated in cold case prosecutions. We conducted a thematic analysis of survivors' narratives regarding how seeing their perpetrators in court years later affected them. This experience had layered meanings for participants, with themes emerging around the concepts of identification, re-experiencing, and intimidation.